Television ticker overlay

ABSTRACT

Described embodiments provide for detection and selection by the user of a ticker region within a first video broadcast; and copying and overlaying the detected and selected ticker region over a second video broadcast. Motion estimation techniques are employed to identify the ticker region location and associated borders of the ticker region. The streaming video corresponding to the ticker region is buffered. Some embodiments allow for post-processing of the overlayed ticker region to, for example, eliminate artifacts of, match resolution to, and match aspect ratio of the overlayed ticker region to the second video broadcast.

BACKGROUND

Television, cable and satellite broadcasts often include audio and videofor a television program, while simultaneously showing an image in aportion of the screen for providing data updates. For example, manysports and news networks include a scrolling image in a portion of thescreen, for example, a top or bottom section of the screen, to displaysports scores, stock prices, weather updates, news updates and otherdata updates. These images are commonly known as “tickers”.

Some television systems have employed picture-in-picture (PiP) todisplay a ticker from a first channel, while a user watches a programfrom a second channel, for example as described in U.S. Pat. No.6,833,874 to Ozaki et al. However, PiP systems typically show image datafrom one of the channels in a compressed viewing ratio shown in a staticportion of the television screen. Further, modern digital televisionsystems typically include multiple decoders to decode audio and videodata from more than one channel at once.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Described embodiments provide for a ticker overlay. An encoded firstvideo channel having a ticker in a ticker region of the first videochannel, and an encoded second video channel are received and decoded,the first video channel and the second video channel specified by auser. Based on an input from the user, the ticker of the decoded firstvideo channel is selected for overlay; and the ticker region of theselected ticker is detected based on a motion estimation ticker regiondetection algorithm. The determined ticker region is buffered; and thedetermined ticker region is overlayed on the decoded second videochannel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome more fully apparent from the following detailed description, theappended claims, and the accompanying drawings in which like referencenumerals identify similar or identical elements.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary block diagram of an electronics systemproviding ticker overlay in accordance with exemplary embodiments;

FIGS. 2A through 2D show exemplary television broadcasts illustrating aticker overlay from a first broadcast to a second broadcast; and

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary process of providing ticker overlay inaccordance with exemplary embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Described embodiments provide for, under user control, detection andselection by the user of a ticker region within a first video broadcast;and copying and overlaying the detected and selected ticker region overa second video broadcast. Typically, a user might navigate a pointer orsimilar indicator over a broadcast to select the ticker in the firstbroadcast for overlay via a television remote control device. Onceselected, the television's processor, which might include one or moremodules related to the decoding of a digitally encoded video/audiobroadcast (e.g., MPEG encoded digital pictures), employs motionestimation techniques to identify the ticker region location andassociated borders of the ticker region The streaming videocorresponding to the ticker region is buffered. The user might thenselect the second broadcast, and the processor then inserts the bufferedticker region within the second broadcast at a default or user-specifiedlocation. Some embodiments allow for post-processing of the overlayedticker region to, for example, eliminate artifacts of, match resolutionto, and match aspect ratio of the overlayed ticker region to the secondvideo broadcast.

Embodiments of the present invention might provide the followingbenefits. By detecting ticker regions with motion-estimation basedtechniques during decoding and overlaying decoded ticker regions ondecoded picture regions, ticker overlay is generally simpler toimplement. Further, such motion-estimation based techniques allow forprocessing over the luminance values only, simplifying and speeding upsuch process.

Table 1 defines a list of acronyms employed throughout thisspecification as an aid to understanding the described embodiments ofthe present invention:

TABLE I USB Universal Serial DVD Digital Versatile Disc or Bus DigitalVideo Disc HD High Definition TV Television 3D Three Dimensional PiPPicture-in-Picture DTV Digital TV ATV Analog TV A/V Audio/Video MPEGMoving Picture Experts Group

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary block diagram of an electronics system 100providing ticker overlay in accordance with exemplary embodiments.System 100 includes digital television (DTV) unit 102, user input device122, and display 132. DTV unit 102 typically includes demodulation orother circuitry (not shown FIG. 1) employed to receive and generatedemodulated broadcast data from several channels through, for example, aservice provider. DTV unit 102 may be, for example, a cable, fiber orsatellite dish set-top box, though the present invention is not solimited to these devices, and might be implemented in a computing deviceand the like. Demodulated broadcast data might include digitally encodedvideo and/or audio data, such as digital television (DTV) as isspecified under one or more standards developed by the Moving PictureExperts Group (MPEG), such as MPEG-2 or -4 encoded video. Other types ofdemodulated broadcast data might also be received, such as analogtelevision (ATV) in various formats.

User input device 122 represents circuitry employed to allow a user toselect functions and communicate such selections to the DTV unit 102.User input device 122 can be embodied as, for example, a separate remotecontroller having wireless, infrared, or other forms of communicationemployed in conjunction with DTV unit 102 and/or display 132 (e.g., aset-top box remote). The present is not so limited, however, and theuser input device might simply represent a mouse keyboard, buttons orother manual input coupled to DTV unit 102. Display 132 represents avideo display device, such as a cathode-ray tube (CRT), plasma panel, orliquid crystal display (LCD) where video is provide to the user.Interaction between user input device 122, user input device interface118, and media processor controller 114 in some embodiments might allowfor a pointer function that allows a user to select positions or regionson the video picture viewed on display 132.

Aspects of DTV unit 102 are described in further detail below. DTV unit102 includes ATV/DTV media processor 104, media processor controller 114(which might typically be integrated with ATV/DTV media processor 104 asa system on chip (SoC)), user input device interface 118, displayformatting module 112, and display controller 116. ATV/DTV mediaprocessor 104, in turn, includes at least two audio/video decoders shownas A/V decoders 106 and 108, and ticker detector 110 operating inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. DTV unit 102, aswell as the various devices within DTV unit 102, typically haveassociated memory for storage and access of processed or received data,including that of video and audio encoded/decoded data, shown generallyin FIG. 1 as buffer 103.

In operation, a user might select one or more channels for viewing ondisplay 132. Consequently, the user might enter such selection (herein,channel 1) on user input device 122, which in turn communicates theselection to media processor controller 114 through user input deviceinterface 118. Media processor controller 114 processes the receivedselection to provide commands to ATV/DTV media processor 104 to selectthe desired channel from the demodulated broadcast data and provide theassociated encoded video and audio data to one of A/V decoders 106 and108 (for the following, A/V decoder 106 is associated with the decodingof channel 1). A/V decoder 106 decodes the encoded video, which forexample is in an MPEG-2 format, and provides the decoded video data todisplay formatting module 112.

Display formatting module 112 performs various functions, such asmodifying the resolution, stretching or shrinking the video picture,inserting picture-in-picture information (i.e., merging two pictures)and the like. Consequently, display-formatting module 112 provides asoutput pixel information related to the decoded and processed video fordisplay on display 132. Display controller 116, in turn, processes thepixel information related to the decoded video into signals to drivecorresponding pixels of display 132.

The decoded video channel 1 might contain a ticker—a region (herein,ticker region) of the video picture that the broadcast station hasinserted into the channel containing streaming data. Such data might beincluded as packetized data in the packetized encoded video data, andsuch data might be, for example, real-time stock or financialinformation, news information, sports information, channel or serviceprovider information, weather alerts, and the like. Consequently, inaccordance with described embodiments, the user might select such tickerregion of channel 1 for display on other channels through input to userinput device 122. User input device 122, in turn, communicates theselection of the ticker to media processor controller 114 through userinput device interface 118.

Under control of media processor controller 114, ATV/DTV media processor104 instructs A/V decoder 106 to provide decoded video data to tickerdetector 110. Using motion estimation techniques as describedsubsequently, ticker detector 110 detects the ticker region of channel 1decoded by A/V decoder 106. The decoded video portion corresponding tothe ticker region is extracted, is temporarily buffered (e.g., by buffer103 of FIG. 1), and provided to display-formatting module 112. Displayformatting module 112 also receives commands from media processorcontroller 114 that specifics the region, size, resolution, aspectratio, position and so forth of the selected ticker region of channel 1for display on subsequent channels.

After, the automatic selection of the ticker is performed, the user cantune in a different channel and enable the ticker region from theprevious channel to be overlaid on the current channel. The tickerbuffering is automatically refreshed by the detection/selectionalgorithm of ticker detector 110. This occurs because typically, DTV andSTB systems employ dual video decoding capability. Rendering the aspectratio of the ticker correctly in the current viewed video channel isimportant. So, display formatting module 112 interpolates properly thesticker for the final overlay over the watched channel.

Subsequently, the user, through input commands selects another broadcastchannel in a manner as described above with respect to channel 1. Thissecond selected channel (herein, channel 2) is provided to A/V decoder108 for decoding from the demodulated broadcast data, and the decodedvideo is provided to display formatting module 112. Display formattingmodule 112 also receives commands from media processor controller 114that specifies the region, size, resolution, aspect ratio, position andso forth of the selected ticker region of channel 1 for display onsubsequent channels, such as channel 2. Display formatting module 112then overlays the processed ticker region of channel 1 to a specifiedarea of the channel 2 video picture by, for example, over-writing pixelvalues with the ticker region pixel values. In some embodiments, displayformatting module 112 also detects the presence or absence of tickerregion data, enabling or disabling the overlay of the channel 1 tickerregion, respectively.

FIGS. 2A through 2D show exemplary television broadcasts illustrating aticker overlay from a first broadcast to a second broadcast. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 2A, a user employs the remote input device tonavigate to a channel 1 (e.g., Bloomfield financial information).Picture 200 includes a content region 201 and a ticker region 202 havingticker 203. Using the remote input device, the user selects the ticker203 to overlay (a ticker having real time stock prices) from channel 1,and, thus, the user selects that the ticker on channel 1 to beextracted. Using the remote input device, as shown in FIG. 2B, the usernavigates to a channel 2 (e.g., ESPN sports). Picture 250 includes acontent region 206 and optionally a ticker region 207 having ticker 208.Using the remote input device, the user selects to overlay the tickerfrom channel 1 onto channel 2. Picture 200 includes a content region 201and a ticker region 202 having ticker 203. As shown in FIG. 2C, theticker 203 from channel 1 (the real-time stock prices) is overlaid ontothe ticker region 207 of channel 2 so that the user can watch bothsimultaneously.

As would be apparent to one skilled in the art, numerous variations tothe above example might exist. For example, if the ticker from channel 1(e.g., a stock price ticker) is to be overlaid on channel 2, and aticker (e.g., ticker 208 as shown in FIG. 2B) is already present onchannel 2 (e.g., a sports score ticker), a user might select the tickeron channel 2 to be hidden or left as viewable. In such case, someembodiments employ such motion-estimation based techniques to detect thepresence (or absence) and corresponding location of the ticker region inchannel 2. Such case is shown in FIG. 2D, where ticker 203 is nowoverlaid on region 210 above ticker 207. In addition, more than oneticker can be selected from corresponding ones of various,multiple-available channels and overlaid onto one or more otherchannels. For example, if a television picture display is divided intomultiple viewing regions, user-selected tickers might be overlayed onone or more of the multiple viewing regions. As described herein, sincethe various tickers are not necessarily independently extracted from theprimary broadcast, the various tickers can be recorded, paused, orotherwise processed independent of the primary broadcast, providingincreased functionality and flexibility to the user. In addition, aticker of one channel might be overlayed directly on the ticker of thesecond channel, so as to hide it.

In order to detect a ticker region in the decoded video picture,described embodiments use motion estimation and compensation to detectand extract the ticker region of interest. Dynamic tickers generallymove through the picture with near-uniform velocity, and ticker detector110 might advantageously use such knowledge to detect the presence,absence and location of ticker regions. Motion estimation that usesblock-based algorithms are generally implemented on a processor chipthat has full search block motion estimation capability. Block-basedmotion estimating algorithms are well known in the art of videoprocessing. Block-based motion estimating algorithms are described in acomprehensive way, for example, in A. M. Tekalp, Digital VideoProcessing, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.; Prentice-Hall, 1995; with earlierworks in A. N. Netravali and J. D. Robbins, Motion-CompensatedTelevision Coding: Part I, BSTJ, 58(3):631-670, March 1979; and A. N.Netravali and J. A. Stuller, Motion-Compensated Television Coding: PartI, BSTJ, 58(7): 1703-18, September 1979.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary process 300 of providing ticker overlay inaccordance with exemplary embodiments. An exemplary motionestimation-based ticker region detection algorithm based on motionestimation/compensation for sticker detection is then described.

Referring to FIG. 3, at step 301, process 300 receives input command toselect a ticker from a channel (e.g., the first channel). At step 303,process 300 identifies/accesses the video decoder to begin frame searchof the channel. At step 305, process 300 constructs a hierarchicalsearch (e.g., low-pass pyramid representation) for reference and inputframes.

At step 307, process 300 performs a full search (e.g., block matching)for coarse representation of reference and input frames. This coarsesearch needs only luminance values for processing. At step 309 and 311,respectively, process 300 generates motion vectors and then motioncompensation and prediction values for the search. At step 313, process300 generates Thresholds for motion compensation and predictioncorresponding to ticker movement. Using these thresholds, at step 315,process 300 applies (e.g., rectangular) segmentation to the frame(s) andtests for the presence or absence of the ticker region. This mightinclude testing for a central region of the ticker region. These testsallow for identifying corresponding pixel addresses for ticker region.

At step 317, post-processing and/or filtering of the ticker region isperformed to reduce/eliminate artifacts, distortion, or otherdiscontinuities, especially at the borders. At step 319, the identifiedticker region of the decoded video stream is then provided from thecorresponding video decoder for buffering (e.g., by buffer 103 of FIG.1). At step 321, the user-selected second channel is identified, and thepixels of the ticker region of the decoded video stream of the firstchannel are overwritten onto the corresponding pixel addresses of thesecond channel at a predetermined region of the picture. At step 323,the second channel with the overlay-ticker region is provided to thedisplay.

Application of the motion estimation-based ticker region detectionalgorithm of FIGS. 1 and 3 is now described. The motion estimation-basedticker region detection algorithm uses hierarchical block matching inwhich full-search block motion estimation is performed in a referenceframe having lower spatial resolution than the input frame. A low-passpyramid representation is constructed for the reference frame and theinput frame using the following equation (1):

$\begin{matrix}{{{f_{l}\left( {n_{x},n_{y},n_{t}} \right)} = \left( {\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{I - 1}{\sum\limits_{j = 0}^{J - 1}{{{h\lbrack i\rbrack}\lbrack j\rbrack} \times {f_{l - 1}\left( {{{2n_{x}} + i - \frac{I - 1}{2}},{{2n_{y}} + {ji} - \frac{J - 1}{2}},n_{t}} \right)}}}} \right)},} & (1)\end{matrix}$where f_(l) denotes the frame in the l-th coarse resolution, Lrepresents the number of coarse representations in the hierarchy, 1≦l≦L,and h[i][j] denotes the filter coefficients with I and J denoting thenumber of filter taps.

A full-search block match algorithm is performed between the coarseinput frame and the coarse representation of the reference frame at thelast level, using an absolute difference distortion measure as the basisfor matching. With an 8×8 (for example) block, the minimum distortion,D, is the one found after exhaustive search in a search region R_(i) ofthe coarse representation reference frame. The minimum distortion D(.)for an 8×8 exemplary block is defined by equation (2):

$\begin{matrix}{{D\left( {\frac{n_{x}}{8},\frac{n_{y}}{B}} \right)} = {\min_{{({d_{x,L}d_{y,L}})} \in \; R_{L}}{\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{8}{\sum\limits_{j = 0}^{8}{{{{f_{L}\left( {{\frac{n_{x}}{8} + i},{\frac{n_{y}}{8} + j},n_{t}} \right)} - {f_{L}\left( {{\frac{n_{x}}{8} + i + d_{x,L}},{\frac{n_{y}}{8} + j + d_{y,L}},{n_{t} - T}} \right)}}}.}}}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$where d_(l) represents the displacement vector in the search regionR_(l) (defined by the grid d_(xL)≦|N_(x,L)|×d_(syL)≦|N_(xL)|) thatminimizes D(.) in the above equation (2). The value N is the size of thereference frame at level L in the x or y direction, T denotes thetemporal distance of the reference frame from the input frame, f_(l)denotes the reference frame at level L, and |•| is the absolute value.When T is negative this indicates motion estimation in the forwarddirection (increasing in time). After finding the displacement vector atlevel L, a scaled version of the displacement vector is propagated tothe next level L-1 of the pyramid. A new search is performed in a searchregion around the point 2×d_(l). In general, the search region isR_(L-1) smaller than the original search region R_(L). This procedure isiterated to the base of the pyramid (i.e., to fields with the originalsize). The final motion vector might be described as in equation (3):v(v _(x) ,v _(y))=2(d _(x,1) ,d _(y,1))+(d _(x) ,d _(y))  (3)where (d_(x),d_(y)), is the displacement in R. The motion vector withinteger pixel accuracy v is then found.

Motion estimation is performed between the input frame n_(i) and thetemporally adjacent frame n_(i)−1. In this case T=1 is used when thesource material is progressive. When T=2, motion estimation is based ona field (picture) of the same parity as the input field. An interlacedpicture has two fields: top_field and bottom_field. If the input(current) field is a top_field, with T=2, the other field is alsotop_field type. If the input (current) field is a bottom_field, withT=2, the other field is also bottom_field type.

The motion vector field v can be described generally as in equation (4):v=[v _(x) ,v _(y)]^(T)=argmin_((d) _(x) _(,d) _(y) ₎Σ_((d) _(x) _(,d)_(y) _()∈R) |f(n _(x) ,n _(y) ,n _(t))−f(n _(x) −d _(x) ,n _(y) −d _(y),n _(t) −T)|  (4)with T defining the direction of motion as previously described. Theranges of vector coordinate values used by the motion estimation canvary according to the original picture resolution.

Next, the frame n_(i)−1 is motion compensated using the vector fielddenoted by v, to find the relative best prediction of the samples of theinput frame. In case of a field picture, the field n_(i)−2 is motioncompensated. In order to detect the areas where motion compensationworks relatively perfectly a line activity measure A(.) is defined as inequation (5):

$\begin{matrix}{{A\left( {\frac{n_{x}}{M},{n_{y}n_{t}}} \right)} = {\sum\limits_{l = 0}^{8}{{{f\left( {i,n_{y},n_{t}} \right)} - {f_{mc}\left( {i,n_{y},n_{t}} \right)}}}}} & (5)\end{matrix}$

Where M denotes the picture line length in pixels. This computation ispreferably performed on the luminance component only, and the sum ofA(.)'s should be close to zero for a ticker region. This region has ingeneral rectangular format. The set of blocks that belongs to therectangular part of the picture will have them ΣA˜0. Motion compensationprediction should be almost perfect since a ticker move across thepicture with uniform velocity. In order to prevent misclassificationsdue to noise and border effects is interesting to threshold theactivities via threshold function B(.) in equation (6):

$\begin{matrix}{{B\left( {\frac{n_{x}}{M},n_{y},n_{t}} \right)} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}{{1A} \leq T_{\alpha}} \\{{0A} > T_{\alpha}}\end{matrix} \right.} & (6)\end{matrix}$In equation (6), T_(a) is a threshold where T_(a)=32M is a preferedvalue for an entire length of a picture line.

After this threshold of equation (6) is calculated, a rectangularsegmentation is applied. All the lines of the current picture that haveB(.)'s equal to 1 for consecutive lines are grouped. If the lineaddresses of the B(.)'s equal to 1 are larger than the line address thatcorresponds to ¾ of the picture height, this region is determined as aticker region. After rectangular segmentation, the address computationof the ticker region is performed. These thresholds and relatedcomputations are employed since ticker regions are inserted byproduction studios in either the top or bottom of the broadcast picture,and the user has flagged that there is, in fact, a ticker in the currentdecoded picture. The segment of the picture that represents the tickeris stored for later use.

While the previous has been described with respect to detection of aticker at the top and/or bottom of the picture, the present invention isnot so limited. One skilled in the art might readily extend theteachings herein to detection of ticker or similar regions in otherlocations of a picture.

In general, ticker regions overlaid on the main picture content may haveartifacts. Therefore, post-processing of this region might be performed,thereby eliminating artifacts that were originated by the broadcast ofmain channel video with the ticker information. This post-processing ofthis region might occur by several different non-linear filteringalgorithms, such as implemented with noise-reduction filters thatpreserve edge information. News, sports and financial ticker informationare, in general, broadcast with solid-color background and foreground,so blending artifacts is of relatively minor complexity. New colorattributes can be associated with this ticker region, such as backgroundcolor and foreground color and new alpha-blend values. In general, suchcolor attributes are user selectable.

While the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed with respect to processing blocks in a software program,including possible implementation as a digital signal processor,micro-controller, or general-purpose computer, the present invention isnot so limited. As would be apparent to one skilled in the art, variousfunctions of software might also be implemented as processes ofcircuits. Such circuits might be employed in, for example, a singleintegrated circuit, a multi-chip module, a single card, or a multi-cardcircuit pack.

The present invention can be embodied in the form of methods andapparatuses for practicing those methods. The present invention can alsobe embodied in the form of program code embodied in tangible media, suchas magnetic recording media, optical recording media, solid statememory, floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any othernon-transitory machine-readable storage medium, wherein, when theprogram code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as acomputer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention.The present invention can also be embodied in the form of program code,for example, whether stored in a non-transitory machine-readable storagemedium, loaded into and/or executed by a machine, or transmitted oversome transmission medium or carrier, such as over electrical wiring orcabling, through fiber optics, or via electromagnetic radiation,wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine,such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing theinvention. When implemented on a general-purpose processor, the programcode segments combine with the processor to provide a unique device thatoperates analogously to specific logic circuits. The present inventioncan also be embodied in the form of a bitstream or other sequence ofsignal values electrically or optically transmitted through a medium,stored magnetic-field variations in a magnetic recording medium, etc.,generated using a method and/or an apparatus of the present invention.

It should be understood that the steps of the exemplary methods setforth herein are not necessarily required to be performed in the orderdescribed, and the order of the steps of such methods should beunderstood to be merely exemplary. Likewise, additional steps might beincluded in such methods, and certain steps might be omitted orcombined, in methods consistent with various embodiments of the presentinvention.

As used herein in reference to an element and a standard, the term“compatible” means that the element communicates with other elements ina manner wholly or partially specified by the standard, and would berecognized by other elements as sufficiently capable of communicatingwith the other elements in the manner specified by the standard. Thecompatible element does not need to operate internally in a mannerspecified by the standard.

Also for purposes of this description, the terms “couple, ” “coupling,”“coupled,” “connect,” “connecting,” or “connected” refer to any mannerknown in the art or later developed in which energy is allowed to betransferred between two or more elements, and the interposition of oneor more additional elements is contemplated, although not required.Conversely, the terms “directly coupled,” “directly connected,” etc.,imply the absence of such additional elements. Signals and correspondingnodes or ports might be referred to by the same name and areinterchangeable for purposes here.

It will be further understood that various changes in the details,materials, and arrangements of the parts that have been described andillustrated in order to explain the nature of this invention might bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of theinvention as expressed in the following claims.

We claim:
 1. A method of providing for a ticker overlay comprising:receiving and decoding i) an encoded first video channel having a tickerin a ticker region of the first video channel and ii) an encoded secondvideo channel, the first video channel and the second video channelspecified by a user; selecting, based on an input from the user, theticker of the decoded first video channel for overlay; determining theticker region of the selected ticker based on a motion estimation tickerregion detection algorithm; buffering the determined ticker region;monitoring for and detecting a location of a corresponding ticker of thesecond video channel; overlaying the determined ticker region on thedecoded second video channel so as to avoid the corresponding ticker ofthe second video channel; and displaying the determined ticker region onthe decoded second video channel.
 2. The method according to claim 1,comprising: monitoring the ticker of the first video channel; detectinga presence and an absence of the ticker of the first video channel; andenabling and disabling, based on the detected presence and absencerespectively of the ticker of the first video channel, the overlaying ofthe determined ticker region on the decoded second video channel.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein determining the ticker region ofthe selected ticker based on a motion estimation ticker region detectionalgorithm detects the region based on luminance components.
 4. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the determining the ticker regionof the selected ticker based on the motion estimation ticker regiondetection algorithm comprises: identifying first and second frames ofthe first channel; constructing a hierarchical search based on the firstand second frames; searching the first and second frames; generatingmotion vector and corresponding motion compensation and predictioninformation for the first and second frames; generating thresholds forthe motion compensation and prediction information corresponding toticker movement; segmenting and testing at least one of the first andsecond frames to identify pixel and corresponding pixel locationinformation to generate the determined ticker region.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the buffering the determined ticker regionfurther comprises filtering and post-processing the determined tickerregion.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is implemented by amachine executing program code encoded on a non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium.
 7. An apparatus for providing a tickeroverlay comprising: a media processor comprising at least two videodecoders, the media processor configured to receive and decode i) anencoded first video channel having a ticker in a ticker region of thefirst video channel and ii) an encoded second video channel, the firstvideo channel and the second video channel specified by a user; a mediaprocessor controller configured to select, based on an input from theuser, the ticker of the decoded first video channel for overlay; aticker detector, coupled to the at least two video decoders, configuredto determine the ticker region of the selected ticker based on a motionestimation ticker region detection algorithm; a buffer for buffering thedetermined ticker region; wherein the ticker detector monitors for anddetects a location of a corresponding ticker of the second videochannel; and a display formatting module configured to overlay thedetermined ticker region on the decoded second video channel so as toavoid the corresponding ticker of the second video channel.
 8. Theapparatus according to claim 7, wherein: the ticker detector isconfigured to monitor the ticker of the first video channel; and detecta presence and an absence of the ticker of the first video channel; andthe display formatting module is configured to enable and disable, basedon the detected presence and absence respectively of the ticker of thefirst video channel, the overlaying of the determined ticker region onthe decoded second video channel.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 7,wherein the ticker detector is configured to determine the ticker regionof the selected ticker based on a motion estimation ticker regiondetection algorithm detects the region based on luminance components.10. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the ticker detector isconfigured to determine the ticker region of the selected ticker basedon a motion estimation ticker region detection algorithm by: identifyingfirst and second frames of the first channel; constructing ahierarchical search based on the first and second frames; searching thefirst and second frames; generating motion vector and correspondingmotion compensation and prediction information for the first and secondframes; generating thresholds for the motion compensation and predictioninformation corresponding to ticker movement; segmenting and testing atleast one of the first and second frames to identify pixel andcorresponding pixel location information to generate the determinedticker region.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein thebuffer is configured to filter and post-process the determined tickerregion.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising adisplay controller configured to display the determined ticker region onthe decoded second video channel from the display formatting module. 13.A video processing system comprising: a display configured to display avideo image; a remote device configured to receive user input; a digitaltelevision video system configured to, based on the user input from theremote device: receive and decode i) an encoded first video channelhaving a ticker in a ticker region of the first video channel and ii) anencoded second video channel, the first video channel and the secondvideo channel specified by the user input; select, based on the userinput, the ticker of the decoded first video channel for overlay;determine the ticker region of the selected ticker based on a motionestimation ticker region detection algorithm; monitor for and detect alocation of a corresponding ticker of the second video channel bufferthe determined ticker region; overlay the determined ticker region onthe decoded second video channel so as to avoid the corresponding tickerof the second video channel; and display on the display the determinedticker region on the decoded second video channel.